Loans
/loans. Needs module.loans.
Loans are the spare devices you hand out while somebody’s own is being repaired, or for short-term use. Plugboard tracks every loan device, whether it is out, and who has it.
What a loan device carries
Section titled “What a loan device carries”| Number | Unique within its group. What everybody actually uses |
| Serial | What the MDM knows it by |
| Status | Available, issued, or unavailable |
| Group and kind | Which pool it belongs to |
| Holder | When issued: who has it |
| Reason and date | Why it went out and when |
The number is the important field. It goes on a sticker, it is what a student is told at the counter, and it appears on their tracking page and in the parent portal.
The page
Section titled “The page”Filter by group, kind, status and user group. Search by number, serial or holder.
Issue a loan
Section titled “Issue a loan”Pick the device, choose the person, record the reason. The device moves to issued and is linked to the holder.
Return a loan
Section titled “Return a loan”Mark it returned and it goes back to available.
The habit worth building: return it at the counter, in front of the person, so the record matches reality. Put it on a shelf and mark it returned tomorrow, and somebody is chasing it on Friday.
Register a new device
Section titled “Register a new device”Add a device to a group. The number is assigned automatically, and you can autocomplete the serial from your MDM as you type, so records match what is actually enrolled rather than what somebody read off a sticker upside down.
Edit and bulk actions
Section titled “Edit and bulk actions”Change details, or act on several devices at once. Bulk actions are what you want at the start and end of a year.
Automatic assignment on a repair
Section titled “Automatic assignment on a repair”When somebody lodges a repair and asks for a loaner, at the kiosk or through a technician, Plugboard can assign an available device from the right group automatically, based on the person’s user group and the kind of device involved.
They are told their loan number immediately. The loan and the repair are linked, so when the repair closes you know which loaner to collect back.
Keeping the pool current
Section titled “Keeping the pool current”A loan pool maintained by hand is wrong by the end of the first term. Devices get retired, replaced and reassigned, and nobody remembers to tell the spreadsheet.
Point a loan group at a smart or static group in your MDM and the pool syncs itself. Devices added to the MDM group appear as available loans; devices removed drop out.
Available today with Jamf Pro, which implements
device.listGroup. Other MDMs still autocomplete serials as you type.
Groups
Section titled “Groups”Loans are organised into groups: Loan Laptops, Loan iPads, Staff Loaners. Each has its own device kind, its own numbering and the user groups it serves.
Managed under loan groups.
Overdue loans
Section titled “Overdue loans”A loan that has been out a long time is worth chasing, and the reports page has a loan utilisation report showing issued against available.
The pattern that works at most schools is a termly sweep: run the report, chase anything out longer than a term, and mark genuinely lost devices unavailable so they stop looking like available stock.
Use the assistant for quick questions and actions:
- How many laptops are on loan?
- Available iPads
- Who has loan #1?
- Issue a loan to Riley Brooks
Permissions
Section titled “Permissions”| Permission | Allows |
|---|---|
loan.view | See loans and who has what |
loan.issue | Issue one |
loan.return | Mark one returned |
loan.manage | Register, edit, bulk actions, manage groups |
The split between loan.issue and loan.manage is what lets a front counter
hand devices out without being able to restructure the fleet.